Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Graveyards and Demolitions

One of the most interesting places I visited over the course of researching the book was the graveyard at LEGOLAND California. It's a spot on the back lot of the park -- a series of wooden shipping crates (think larger versions of the Ark of the Covenant from Indiana Jones) where retired models, broken models, and prototypes end up.

It's the place that would fascinate and devastate most adult fans. Here you have discarded LEGO bricks -- ones that will be recycled, if possible, but are not going to be played with or displayed any more.

I hadn't though of the graveyard until I stumbled across pictures of the demolition of James May's LEGO House. These are not for the faint of heart. If seeing LEGO bricks torn asunder makes you feel weak, I urge you not to click through that link.

But for those with strong enough constitutions, it's an interesting look at the teardown of the massive LEGO structure. The process looks fairly similar to seeing a standard house torn down -- only rubber mallets are being used instead of bulldozers.

It would seem that a LEGO house was never meant to last because such things -- like Kevin Federline -- are simply too beautiful for this earth.